The Obstacle Is the Way The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph

The philosophy of stoicism and people can certainly find a lot of great books written contemporary, you know, in a contemporary sense by Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle Is the Way. I actually produced the audio book for that book.

Ryan Holiday, author of 12 books on stoicism with more than 10 million copies sold, including The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego Is the Enemy, and Stillness Is the Key.

The Obstacle Is The Way, and many, many other books.

I have it tattooed on my arm as a reminder.

I think my bestselling book is The Obstacle Is The Way, but who's counting?

If you could avoid the adversity, great, you know, you should be, no one should have to learn, as you said, from the death of a child or from a bankruptcy or a robbery or, you know, a natural disaster.

Ryan's books, like his new one, Discipline is Destiny, which is available right now. Number one New York Times bestsellers, multiple. Some of my favorite ones, The Obstacle is the Way, Ego is the Enemy, The Daily Stoic.

The Obstacle Is The Way came out just to just sort of illustrate this idea that nobody knows anything.

I had the idea for the obstacle is the way and the publisher said that idea is half as good as your last idea.

It didn't hit the bestseller list, the wiki came out, it sold like maybe 30,000 copies in the first six months, maybe 60,000 in the first year, um, did not hit a bestseller list for the first five years of its existence.

And then ultimately has gone on to sell, you know, uh, about a million and a half copies.

And that's what the obstacle is the way is really about.

Ryan is one of the world's foremost thinkers and writers on ancient philosophy and its place in everyday life. He's a sought-after speaker, strategist, and the author of many bestselling books and some of my favorites, including The Obstacle is the Way, Ego is the Enemy, and The Daily Stoic.

I re-read this book, this is my favorite book probably in the world. The Obstacle is the Way is a book I read at least once a year.

Ryan Holiday wrote a book called 'The Obstacle Is The Way' about this. So many people see obstacles, and they're like 'Oh, this is terrible.' But you know what? They're not terrible. Obstacles are opportunities for growth.

Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday, Art of Resilience by yourself on Audible.

Read Art of Resilience by Ross Edgley, Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday and watch the documentary resurfaced with Andy Murray.

You had Ryan Holiday. He's the guy that did that obstacle book, right? Obstacle is the way.

My guest tonight is considered one of the leading stewards of stoic philosophy. He's behind The Daily Stoic, Stillness is the Key, The Obstacle is the Way, and much more. Please welcome Ryan Holiday.

Ryan Holiday's The Obstacle Is The Way made me look at my situation like this is my opportunity for growth.

There was two books. Ryan Holiday's The Obstacle Is The Way made me look at my situation like this is my opportunity for growth.

His books, The Obstacle is the Way, Ego is the Enemy, The Daily Stoic and the number one New York Times bestseller, Stillness is the Key, have sold more than five million copies in the US.

That's a Ryan holiday book. I want to make sure I give shout outs.

In The Obstacle is the Way, I sort of break this art of turning difficulty or problems into an advantage or into an opportunity.

Remember, the obstacle is the way.

And I did a book called The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan.

His books like The Obstacle is the Way, Ego is the Enemy, The Daily Stoic, and most recently, Right Thing, Right Now have sold more than 5 million copies together.

I'm doing a 10 year anniversary edition of it.

He would write books like The Obstacle is the Way, Ego is the Enemy, Stillness is Key.

He would write books like The Obstacle is the Way, Ego is the Enemy, Stillness is Key.

lunchbox should read that business book, Obstacle is the way

I just keep telling my, it's a great book and I just keep saying that.

He wrote Obstacle is the Way.

I know this is what Ryan Holiday talks about, the obstacle is the way and all that, but maybe I'm freshly inspired by having visited him this week down in Austin, but more than that, I guess what I'm saying is there's really no sense of lamenting what could have been because in all likelihood, what could have been never existed in the first place, what does exist, what did happen, that's probably much more interesting and much more meaningful than our fantasy of a life without challenges, without obstacles.

You kind of created this, not quite a drill, almost like a mindset of maybe listening out some things that you're afraid of and jumping right in.

Yeah, love Ryan Holiday, had him on the show twice and he wrote that book, obstacle is the way, you've got to tattoo it on his arm and I remember when I first read it, I was like, okay, that's a good book but I don't know if it's always the way.

And then the more I spend time here at London Real, I mean, London Real for me, it is like a crucible for me and it forces me to like face my demons and my obstacles like that's what it is, I think.

I went there while I was writing The Obstacle Is The Way.

And this is effectively the idea of The Obstacle Is The Way, that everything is an opportunity to practice virtue, to be made better by what you went through if you choose to do so.

And I've got a great little reminder of this, The Obstacle Is The Way coin, which you can grab at store.dailystoic.com.

To me, that's kind of what the idea of the obstacle is the way is that these unpleasant, unchosen, undesirable situations are practice for harder things down the road.

I did this book, The Obstacle Is the Way, and I think for some reason when people hear that, they're going like, you're supposed to go through the obstacle, right?

But no, the idea is that in struggling with the obstacle and failing, you come up with another way around, right? Or because that path is blocked, you end up going in a very different direction that you wouldn't have thought of otherwise, and that becomes the way, right?

And then in having to come up with a new way, you discover that that should have been the way all along.

Chris and I talked books. Chris and I actually did a book together, which I always recommend to people called Letters to a Young Athlete because he had been talking about the ideas in the obstacle's way, which one of his coaches had given him.

He's trying to remind himself that we don't control what happens. We control how we respond to what happens.

This is, I think, a formula not just for individual greatness, but also this is what entrepreneurs do. This is what investors do. We don't control where the market is going, but we control how we orient what we do in response to what the market is doing.

We figure out what virtues this situation is going to draw out of us, what we're going to bring to it, what we're going to take out of it.

When I wrote The Obstacle Is Away, I definitely knew that there had been certain classical works that had crossed over, like in the business world, you know, whether it's Machiavelli or Sun Tzu.

And it's funny, like for some reason, I don't know where they're categorized here, but most bookstores have my books in the business section just because that's where The Obstacle Is Away was for.

Because if they have someone that comes into therapy and they are into the kind of videos that you do and stuff, and they resemble your kind of audience, then a CBT therapist might be going to read Obstacles Away by Ryan Holiday.

This next year will be the 10th anniversary of The Obstacle Is The Way.

And I don't know if there's one thing I'd be like, oh, I'd change this chapter.

I'd get rid of this as I've written more.

And when I look back on anything I've written, the one thing that never ages well, I found is like certainty or glibness.

It is the perfect book.

I'm not saying that.

I'm not saying that.

I just I don't look in the rear view mirror.

And it starts at a young age. Like you just get inculcated X, Y, and Z. Choose the path you want to go. And this is the path. And you get a house and you get insurance and you whatever. And you keep going and blah, blah, blah. And they've taught this, right?

This is a T O I T W.

The obstacle is the way working draft end of day.

That's April 4th, 2013.

I was working on this book.

I may have been on that day writing this very chapter of the obstacle is the way one of my favorite chapters in my first book on Stoicism.

The Obstacles Away sold something like 3,300 copies its first week.

That that would go on and ultimately sell a million copies and then 2 million copies. Again, unreal to me. Could have never imagined it.

I recorded this walking around New York City when I was there back in June for the launch of Right Thing Right Now.

The obstacles away came out in 2014 so that's 10 years to today but it took six maybe seven years for it to hit a bestseller list.

I think they bought a bunch of copies of one of my books in exchange for me coming to talk. Obstacle is the Way I got a copy of that.

Ryan Holiday, author of The Obstacles the Way, Ego is the Enemy, Stillness is the Key, and of course The Daily Stoic as I explain the ideas behind the words and shed light on the path that you're on but that I am also on because again we are all struggling to tame our temper and we will all be better if we can get closer to that.

And obviously this is the idea behind The Obstacle's Way, right? The book that I wrote almost 10 years ago now that sort of kicked off everything, including this podcast, right? The idea that the impediment to action can advance action. What stands in the way can be the way that, as Marcus says, using the same metaphor of fire, that everything we throw in front of the fire is fuel for it.

And if you haven't read the book, I hope you check it out and grab it anywhere books are sold. I hope you check out some of the stuff.

90% of the talks I give are still about The Obstacle Is Away, a book I wrote 10 years ago.

Whether that's the success that came from The Obstacle Is Away book versus it's time to write the next one.

I think I found her on Instagram. Also, she'd posted herself reading a copy of the obstacle is the way she competed in the last Tokyo Olympics in the women's cross country mountain bike race.

When I got asked to do a 10th anniversary edition of The Obstacle Is The Way, I wasn't sure why I would do it. But then I kind of actually liked the idea of doing a Ryan's version, getting to update and change and tweak, getting to take all the things that I have learned and gone through in the intervening 10 years and use it to make the book better.

And that's what this new version of The Obstacle Is The Way is. The first one was Ryan's version, of course, but this one is the parenthetical Ryan's version. And I think it's better, and I'm prouder of it, and I hope you get excited about it.

I don't think anyone would have predicted, least of all me, that The Obstacle Is The Way would go on to sell millions of copies, it'd be translated into 40 languages, that I would be here 10 years later with this new version, and your support means the world to me.

And I wanted to make this new version better and inform some of the things that I've heard from all of you over the years, too. Notes I got, criticism I got, all of it contributed to making the book better.

You can grab a signed, numbered first edition here. It comes out on October 1st, but the only place you can get these signed, numbered first editions, and there's a short run, you got to remember we sold out of the Daily Dad signed and numbered first editions, and we sold out of the Right Thing Right Now signed first edition.

What stands in the way becomes the way.

When I first read those words, I couldn't have known that they would inspire my first book on stoicism, The Obstacle Is The Way, let alone that that book would be published in something like 40 languages and sell two million copies in English alone.

Hard times can be softened, Seneca writes in one of his days. Tight squeezes widened, heavy loads made lighter for those who can apply the right pressure.

What the stoics meant when they said there was opportunity in every obstacle was that in every obstacle lies the opportunity to practice virtue, that even the hardest, most heartbreaking moments of life can be transformed by endurance, by selflessness, by courage, by kindness, by decency.

So this new edition of The Obstacle's Way is a new book, but it is also more than just a reprinting of what I wrote a decade ago. It's an evolution of a fresh line of dialogue and that great conversation of stoicism that stretches back so many thousands of years.

There's Tom Brady's game room next to a Super Bowl ball and a copy of The Obstacle's Way.

one way to take that is like do everything as though it is incredibly important.

in the obstacles away, but one way to take that is like do everything as though it is incredibly important.

I'm 25 pages left in the audio book for the 10 year anniversary of The Obstacle as well.

I wrote a good chunk of, trust me, I'm lying, and Obstacles Away in that pool.

The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.

people are our proper occupation. Our job is to do them good and put up with them.

It's my bestselling book and now I think it's better than ever.

It's one of the things I wanted to talk about in the new edition of The Obstacle Is Away, the timeless art of turning trials into triumph.

I've been working on this 10-year anniversary edition of The Obstacle's Way.

Well, it's got stories in it like that. I love that story about Hemingway when I heard it. And I still, even after I finish my books, I keep researching for them. And I've been hanging on to that story and been so excited to put it in the book. And it's there alongside that famous Rubin Hurricane Carter story.

There's also a story about Julia Baird, who gets this terrible cancer diagnosis, and she goes through a heartbreak and what she finds within herself.

It's also Stockdale, who I've been writing about recently. It's what he draws on. The idea it's not what happens to you. It's about who you become after, how you grow from it.

this is my newest, I think best version of it.

I've got 20-ish pages left of the audiobook of the 10-year anniversary edition of The Obstacle is Away, which I'll be announcing shortly.

I'm 25 pages left in the audio book for the 10 year anniversary of The Obstacle as well.

I wrote a good chunk of, trust me, I'm lying, and Obstacles Away in that pool.

The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.

People are our proper occupation. Our job is to do them good and put up with them.

It's my bestselling book and now I think it's better than ever.

I've been working on this 10-year anniversary edition of The Obstacle's Way.

It's got stories in it like that. I love that story about Hemingway when I heard it.

And I still, even after I finish my books, I keep researching for them. And I've been hanging on to that story and been so excited to put it in the book. And it's there alongside that famous Rubin Hurricane Carter story.

There's also a story about Julia Baird, who gets this terrible cancer diagnosis, and she goes through a heartbreak and what she finds within herself.

It's also Stockdale, who I've been writing about recently. It's what he draws on. The idea it's not what happens to you. It's about who you become after, how you grow from it.

"In the eyes of other people, I was the girl accused of murder and I felt like they didn't really say anything true or real about me as a human being. And I had to really think about that idea, the obstacle is the way, to understand how that played a role in my life. It is a very defining part of my life, but also how I've reacted to it is even more defining about my life and how I've chosen to exercise my agency"

So you think you want things to go a certain way, you want them to be easy, you don't want to have your heart broken, you don't want to have things stolen from you, you don't want to be betrayed, you don't want to hurt yourself, you don't want to have setbacks, but also you do. If you can decide, like an artist, to transform the things that happen to you into something good, Mark's Rule is what you throw on top of a fire becomes fuel for the fire, it transforms it all into flame and brightness. That's what an artist does, that's what a stoic does, that's what Robert's done, and that's what I've tried to do, and that's actually what shaped the idea of The Obstacle's the Way.

But Robert is right. Timing is everything. The apprenticeship you put in is everything. The time you put in is everything. And so The Obstacle Is The Way, which did come out several years later is the lagging indicator, is the culmination of those extra years of work.

He was telling me how he thinks about some of the ideas from the obstacle his way before he races.

So I got it on my phone and I started working that again. And then I was like, I'm still tight. I'm still really tight and I'm not breathing properly. So I got to remember to start to breathe and just be present.

I go through my act model, which is a breakdown of four or five things that I say that helped get me into place.

So if someone comes up to me and they say, hi, can you take a picture of my, yes. Yeah. And because then it would force me to be in the moment.

So I added an acting thing. So I just did a 10-year anniversary edition of The Obstacles of the Way, which it hasn't come out yet.

the obstacle is the way is the first of Ryan's books that I read of that trilogy

it's incredibly accessible now you said earlier that in part is because that's how stoicism is structured yeah um but it's also the way you present it because these are old cats um and old things about old times but but the thing that struck me is so surprising as as you said how relevant so much of their teachings and experiences are to today's world and you actually put it together in a way that really is quite understandable and accessible and it's quick reading and I would I would recommend it

the obstacle is the way you go as the enemy stillness is the key the leather bound addition of the daily stoke we have them all in the daily stoke store which you can check out at store.dailystoke.com

so i'm doing the ten i'm doing the tenure anniversary of obstacle and it's this tension between um leaving stuff as it was like pure in that moment like for the book itself and then also the acknowledgments because i was grateful to that person in that moment and i remain grateful but my view of them has changed so it's like it's like my my appreciation for what they did for me is still there um the flowery language with which i described them is is demonstrably untrue yes subsequently

I used levels of the game in The Obstacle Is The Way.

when i sold the obstacles the way i had to take half what i've gotten for my first book right yeah the publisher basically was sort of well i guess you know and they i remember someone someone told me they thought it would sell five thousand copies the obstacles away and that it would sell that was their guess and what is it now about two million

The obstacles have been the way.

They have produced something good.

when I told my publisher I want to write a book about an obscure school of ancient philosophy they were not like that's gonna sell like right

It's funny I'm working on the 10th anniversary edition of the obstacle as well.

So this is right now and that's basically what I'm talking about in that book.

That's what my life for the last 10 years have been big and small certainly not on the scale of some people in Marcus or an artist who goes through a cult but we're all trying to take what life throws at us and turn it into something.

That's when they say the obstacle is the way. They don't mean that everything's magically going to become better and awesome but it's that we have to use what happens to our own benefit even if it's just making art that comforts or entertains other people.

I've got the obstacle is the way to coin of course that's one form of art. It was a cool opportunity to do you can check that out at store.dailysteoic.com there's a ring there's an necklace and if you haven't read the book yet I hope you will. We made a cool leather edition you can grab that store dot daily stork dot com.

But it's at that deeper level where you experience like profound tragedy and loss that you would never choose to have gone through. And it's not fair that you went through, but it's this opportunity to find something within yourself that maybe you didn't know was there.

So it's like, it's like what she wrote and went through writing, you know, losing her husband and daughter and writing these two books, it doesn't help her that much. Right. I mean, there is something inherently therapeutic about writing and processing, but the majority of the benefit, the value is reaped by us, the reader by the rest of the world.

The place that I wrote a good chunk of the obstacles away in ego is the enemy. I would rent out on the weekends when I was not there. And I've written a good chunk of my books in different Airbnb's over the years when I thought a change of scenery would inspire good writing.

the obstacles away came out it did okay the first week it didn't like blow the doors off wasn't a failure did okay and then it got skunked from the best so it should have hit it but it didn't and it did not hit a best cellar list for five additional years

he came down the next day and said hey I'm doing this thing and I want to buy the rights to the audiobook of the obstacles away which he did and used his enormous Tim Ferris platform and helped kick that book off made it a success

the obstacles away which is from this quote from Mark's realist he does talk a lot in meditations about how like difficult circumstances obstacles are fuel whatever but specifically that quote I truncated like I shortened it I didn't include some of the beginning and I cut out some of the middle but that fuller quote is about annoying obnoxious people

Funny enough I'm actually working on that 10 year anniversary edition of the obstacles the way which won't come out until the fall but if you haven't read the actual book you should. I would love for you to read it and grab it at the Payton Port. I'll sign your copy, we even have the Leatherbound edition and we have an obstacle is the way pendant that a lot of people wear that you might like and there's of course the obstacle is the way challenge coin.

check out the obstacles away book or grab the challenge coin I'll link to both of those in today's show notes or just go to store.dailystillic.com

I'm in the middle now of redoing the obstacles away it's the 10 year anniversary.

2024 is the 10 year anniversary of the obstacles way.

I remember I was writing it in a Starbucks on Blaine Avenue.

I had just read a fascinating biography on John D. Rockefeller by Ron Chernow one of the great biographers of our time.

You'll have to wait until that comes out in the fall

when he got the news of his grandmother's passing I took a deep breath and understood that I had a choice over what I did next death is irreversible it is final what you do with it however is not

the obstacle's way came out in May of 2014 i'd started writing it in 2012 so it took two years came out it sold three four thousand copies it's first week it got skunked on the New York Times bestseller list and it probably sold enough to hit the what was then the extended list there was 20 spots on the advice how to then and it didn't and it certainly sold enough to it though Wall Street Journal hardcover business list and someone at my publisher had decided to list it as a like a different like it didn't qualify for that list like they categorized the check the box categorizing something different didn't hit it yeah so it did not hit any bestseller list until September of 2019 wow nice at which point it had sold close to a million copies

the obstacle's way sells most years sells more copies than it did the previous year which is you know pretty rare in publishing but every single week that comes out it that it is out how many copies it sold in its first week becomes less and less important right and unless you are not successful that will be true for your project right like every week the percentage of how you did at the beginning comes more normal maintenance because more and more meaningless but that's very hard to think about when you when it is 100% of the weeks that you have been out right

it's easy to say the obstacle is the way it's easy to say in theory hey obstacles are an opportunity to get better then you actually have to practice them and you definitely have to practice them when you've written a book about them or you've tattooed this phrase on your arm

There's a story I tell in 'The Obstacle Is the Way' about Phil Jackson...

in the book the obstacle of the way I we've discussed living my book is actually the trust of process and a section living moment to moments day like day paycheck to paycheck

I don't know if he saw a galley of it or not But I think he would have been proud and certainly I do try to make him proud

They told me later he was buried with one of my books which was so meaningful And kind of mind-blowing to me

I first did that talk 10 years ago right after trust me online came out...I did it again right when the obstacles away was coming out and the talk I gave was all about how when the obstacle is the way came out...my publisher didn't think it was going to work one of my friends that it's all like 5,000 copies and so for now approaching the 10-year anniversary of the obstacles away just to see the experience the trajectory the insane luck that I've had it just really made me feel really grateful

You have to search for this idea that struggle is difficult or you know like to title your book the obstacle is the way like getting through things is how you build a stronger foundation it's how you develop characters how the mind understands how to manage difficult situations.

I was already in Pro Ball and my dad would just say hey I read this book and uh I think I think you would like it a lot so it's like okay I'll try it out and then I remember we were in Hawaii when I read it and uh I was like man every single every single chapter was like oh this this is baseball like oh this is baseball this is baseball this one's baseball this one's life this one's baseball

I wrote this book The Opsicles Away which is about how you take these sort of lower case T traumas obstacles difficulties and you find a way to move forward from them to use it to your advantage

you are going to doubt yourself. You must trust the process. Show up every day and a published work will come out of the other side. That the work is a byproduct of the process

I heard about you so many I think it was on ESPN was talking about Nick Sabin and Bill Bellicuck being fans of obstacle the way so I went out and talked to him i love it.

Look I'll take a I'll love any book where Tom Brady says the title of one of my books so yeah look he says um first off what a coup that is just for people haven't seen the book yet anytime Tom Brady writes the forward to a book you know you talk to a legit dude.

I remember when the obstacle was the way came out I thought it would be this best out it took five years to hit the best cellar list so I think one of the things you learn doing a business like this doing anything is that you have to be really patient it's going to take so much longer than you think it's going to take and if you're rushed if you expect it now

if you can't pass the marshmallow test of delaying gratification and deferring things into the future you're just going to get crushed.

They offered me less than half that I got from my first book because I had the trust fund right ahead of the salary of the job.

the obstacle is way you go as the enemy stillness is the key the leather bound addition of the Daily Stoke we have them all in the Daily Stoke store

They were going through something and somebody gave them the Daily Stoic. Usually it's just like how I found Stoicism, right?

a couple months ago I was...I read it Ego, I read Obstacles the Way...that was actually for my second album

taming your temper the 10 days do it guide to controlling anger

taming your temper the 10 days stoic guide to controlling anger 10 days of challenges exercises video lessons and bonus tools based on stoic philosophy materials to help you deal with your anger in a constructive manner we will give you the tools that you need not just to manage your anger but to leave it in the past so you can focus on what's important living a virtuous and fulfilling life

and of course the daily stoic as I explain the ideas behind the words and shed light on the path that you're on but that I am also on because again we are all struggling to tame our temper and we will all be better if we can get closer to that

I've written these books about stoic philosophy. I've been lucky enough to talk about it to the NBA and the NFL, sitting senators and special forces leaders.

It's actually in book six that I found the meditation that I would build my own first book of stoke philosophy around. Marcus says the impediment to action advances action what stands in the way becomes the way he says look stuff can get in the way you can be impeded he says but nothing can impede your intentions or your dispositions he says the mind can convert to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting that's the power of stoses and that we always have the opportunity to practice a virtue.

And if you haven't checked out the book yet you can we've got signed copies here in the Daily Stoke Store and at the Painted Porch and we make a cool pendant and a medallion if you want to carry that reminder with you

This is the June 30th entry in the daily Stoic of course also referencing the title of my first book on Stoicism which it struck me is now how many years eight years old. Yeah, it's unbelievable to me.

Actually, if I remember correctly the book comes with a challenge coin so you can get two for one there.

the obstacle on the path becomes the way

what stands in the way becomes the way

to me this is a central practice in stoicism it's why I've got a tattooed on my arm it's why I wrote a book about it it's why we talk about it so much it's idea of a more faulty we accept and then we use what's happened to our advantage that's the essence of stoicism

I have obstacle you go and stillness okay and then I haven't done the four virtues for that series yet I don't know why it has happened but that's all I got there's a guy here that has an obstacle is the way is it you go as the enemy or obstacles away yeah he's got the same tattoo as nice although sure too I'm fairly sure you need two reminders what's your ego situation yeah but he does actually have that tattoo I saw that and I was like wow you must be like I mean you he tattooed your book title on his body that's got to feel good a lot of I mean not the tattoo part that but yeah but in making that literal impression on people it is it's a it's weird I try not to think about it I get that it's it's like odd uh not not that you did it's we it's like I think the the irony of a lot of creative professions dig your way out of this one you do you do something because like you want to be like seen or you want your work to be received sure and then uh then it happens and then you're like makes him comfortable yeah now I'm with kind of irony of like you you got to think you wanted and then you realized you didn't actually maybe want that thing it's for me it's less I didn't want it like I love the fact that I can in the other people enjoys yeah the stuff that I create but I don't I realize I spent so many years being like and then I'll be a cool person and then when it happens you're like oh not that it's happened yet but in theory then you're like oh I guess I love interacting with people and all this and I love the fact that it's impressive on so many people but I am like almost like blushing like oh geez I don't require this so when I meet people when I lived in Hollywood I met a lot of people who thrived off that and they were never that healthy emotionally

When the Stoics say that the obstacle is the way, which is Mark's wrist is impediment to action advances action when it stands in the way becomes the way he's not um he's not just saying you sort of shoulders and it is what it is he's saying that and he's and he's also not saying like this thing that happened to you as someone dying you're getting fired you know losing your leg in an accident whatever he's not oh it's wonderful like good for you what he's saying is that thing presents to you if you accept it what you have no choice but to do um it's you can choose not to accept it but it doesn't change whether it happened or not but when you ex when you accept it for what it is and you embrace it and you say within this is an opportunity to practice to be excellent in some form or another to be to practice something to be something to do something this is that's what the obstacle is awaiting that's ultimately what a more faulty means which is translates to a love of fate so it's not even like okay but yes this is what I was looking for and this how I use it and in meditations Mark's really says um you know a strong stomach that adjusts what it eats and he says a fire turns everything that is thrown into it into flame and brightness and heat so the idea being that you cultivate this kind of will inside yourself that takes the things that happen to you and uses and uses them to some positive end it's not that it's wonderful that your mom died but that it did happen and so what changes are you making in your life in response to what you learn or what you went through uh that makes you better for having gone through that thing

Obstacles the way came out in 2000 may of 2014 and it didn't hit any that's so long ago I feel like I read that two years ago uh yeah I mean the pandemic is all unbelievable yeah I have questions about that that's so long ago that I almost don't believe you but you would know you'd be the authoritative yes it was made 2014 and it didn't hit any list for five years or six oh my gosh um but it sold quite well and so that was my that was helpful in the sense that it decoupled sort of uh like critical or critical success or recognition of success and then the actual raw numbers of like people you're meeting um but again a third thing would be like is it good or not there's plenty of things that sell well that are not good and plenty of great things that never sell for a variety of reasons but I remember um when obstacle hit number one for the first time which was like almost exactly on the anniversary of five or six years I remember I was mowing my lawn when it happened and it was cool my agent called me and I was like oh what happened and he told me and then you know I mean it still had to finish mowing my lawn it's not like yeah there was no like parade nothing changed so you just sort of realize like oh it just is and it's the point like you think it's going to be this thing and then it's not that thing

the obstacle isn't really the issue so that we should focus more about how we react to them and whether or not we should keep our composure and this is what really determines whether or not we will fail or be successful.

Marcus Aurelius really says, look, it says objective judgment now at this very moment so that's how you see things. Then he says, unselfish action now at this very moment so that's like what we do about it that's being part of a team that's being a positive difference and this is willing acceptance of external events that's the ability to endure and survive because that's all you need.

It's like first trying to see it as clearly as possible, stripping out the emotions, stripping out judgment, just going like it is what it is, here's what I'm going to do about it. Then we try to take an action that's positive, right?

actually the obstacle is the way which is my first book about stoicism it says the word stoic maybe three or four times yeah because what I realized is that um most people do not think philosophy could help them but they do wake up and think I have problems and so I tried to present philosophy as the solution to said problems

just a reminder we've got signed copies of all my books in the Daily Stoke store you can get them personalized you can get them sent to a friend the obstacle is the way

you're not stuck I know you think you are what the stokes wanted you to know is that yes one path might be closed but another remains open right the impediment to action advances action with stands in the way it becomes the way

Marcus really isn't saying that nothing can ever stop you he's saying that when you're stopped in one capacity there remains other capacities open to you always have the opportunity to practice virtue practice excellence to change in some form or another based on what's happened you don't control what happened we control how we respond that's what stoke philosophy is about so yes one path can be closed a door can be shut but the window remains open

Real strength lies in the control or as the seem to let put it, the domestication of one's emotions, not in pretending they don't exist.

Well, it's it's funny in meditations, there's a passage where Marcus realizes like doing exactly that, he's like I know you think you want to get away from it all, yeah, like in the country or the beach or whatever and he's like but actually whatever you need is inside of you right now, it's like you can retreat and go on vacation inside your own soul right now.

You get what you are, yes, so just be the best version of yourself as possible.

And she sent me a nice note about how she read The Opsicles the Way and it had been very helpful to her.

I wrote a book called the obstacles away we're talking about a more faulty it's so it's very easy to be glib like oh you take this devastating tragic terrible thing and through the power of thought and imagination it's transformed into a positive and that's that's so demeaning to the reality of those people's situations and the immensity of the struggle before them it's it's that one it will be an incredible amount of work to it will take a lot of time but but from that work and from that time there can come something beautiful and positive

signed copies of all my books in the daily stoke store you can get them personalized you can get them sent to a friend the obstacle is the way you go as the enemy stillness is the key the leather bound addition of the daily stoke we have them all in the daily stoke store which you can check out at store.dailystoke.com

I had to go back through and read some of my earlier books

I reread the obstacle is the way and what I was struck by what I noticed there really for the first time was that there was a tightness to the writing and the book is shorter almost each one of my books has gotten slightly longer than the last one and I can't tell or I don't know how I would tell if not that that's positive or negative but is that coming from a place of nuance and complexity and better material or am I growing more self-indulgent and that keeps me up at night.

I love books, I was thinking about books, I write about Stoke Flessey,

I have obstacles away.

the impediment to action advances action. but stands in the way it becomes the way.

each and every situation we face in life is an opportunity to practice virtue or practice excellence in some form.

Well, one of the books that our speaker today is written is Obstacle is the way and one of the books that comes from that is Obstacle in the past becomes a past. We never forget which in every Obstacle is an opportunity that one can improve on our own condition.

The obstacle is the way it's focusing on how we respond to what has happened.

the obstacle is the way you go as the enemy still in this is the key the leather bound edition of the daily stoke we have them all in the daily stoke store

talk about the obstacle being the way

which if you haven't read the book well I would love for you to read it you can pick it up anywhere books are sold there's audible we've got sign copies in the daily stokes store but then we also have this cool obstacle is the way medallion that a lot of people carry all over the world this sort of a reminder but leather bound edition of the book which people really love and then we've got a cool pendant version you can check all of that out at store dot ailey stoke dot com

Just a reminder we've got signed copies of all my books in the Daily Stoke Store. You can get them personalized, you can get them sent to a friend, the obstacle's way,

just a reminder we've got signed copies of all my books in the daily stoke store you can get them personalized you can get them sent to a friend the obstacle's way he goes

We met right as obstacle is the way it's coming out.

actually the third book in the series, Courageous Calling is Out.

there's a study that i talk about in in the obstacles the way they did the study on Canadian athletes about how sort of potential career ending injuries often were the fodder for what they call post-traumatic growth even if it didn't make them better the rehabbing process didn't they didn't emerge stronger from it they they appreciated the game more or they appreciated their teammates more or they understood the power of leadership more or made them more patient or made them more grateful like this injury can do that for you if you choose to let it

I remember very vividly trying to make the compelling argument that this would be a book relevant in business that philosophy wasn't just for the class that would be relevant in business.

This incredible peak for me into a world that I didn't know too much about besides as a fan of how professional athletes use sort of the tools of philosophies like stoicism to be better at what they do.

The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.

If you haven't read, the obstacle is the way we have a really cool new leather edition in the Daily Stoke Store. The book sold a million copies, it's in 30 languages. It's the first book that I wrote about Stoicism. I'd love to have you check it out, which you can do in the Daily Stoke Store.

the obstacle is the way

the obstacle is way you go as the enemy still this is the key the leather bound edition of The Daily Stoke we have them all in the Daily Stoke Store which you can check out at store.dailystoke.com

I was actually just rereading your book obstacles away this morning and was thinking through this exact question of how we have a generation of people if you go on TikTok and watch Gen Z which came right after me and you hear the way that they talk about the world and politics.

I just love that passage so much if if I had the time I'd grab the Pierre Hadoe chapter on this very idea which also helps inspire the obstacles away he talks about sort of the art of turning obstacles upside down to me this is a central practice in stoicism it's why I've got a tattooed on my arm it's why I wrote a book about it it's why we talk about it so much it's a deal of a more faulty we accept and then we use what's happened to our advantage that's the essence of stoicism

we do have the new leather bound edition of the obstacles the way which comes with the obstacles we challenge coin as well really proud of this thing you can check that out at dailystoke.com slash obstacle leather

And the leather additions of the daily stoic in the obstacle is the way the perfect gift for any fathers in your life.

It's a genuine leather cover with a new foil stamp logo. It comes in a hard bound box specifically made for both books. It's this eight gram-monkin cream paper, one of the best papers in the world for books. It's got in sheets and a ribbon. You can mark your page. There's new illustrations for each of the sections in the books. And there's a letter from me, the author, the obstacle is the way it comes with a letter play, press note for me, and then the daily stoic comes with one for me and my co-author Stephen Hanselman.

That's a chapter that's adapted actually from the obstacles the way which you can pick up a leather-bound edition now in the daily stokes store or sign copies in the daily stokes store. Or anywhere books are sold if you haven't read it yet, over a million people all over the world have. I hope you check it out.

My first book on stosism and appreciate everyone that supported it over the years. I can't believe it was 10 years ago now, but it was.

He posted a picture of him reading the obstacles the way several years ago on social media.

my book The Obstacle is the Way, The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph is 1.99 everywhere you can hear your e-books.

now is the cheapest the book will probably ever be if you haven't read it if you want to give it as a gift if you also want a digital copy whatever.

you know this is a book that's sold well over a million copies in 40 languages. It's been used by Super Bowl winning teams, Special Forces operators, members of Congress world leaders and it's less than two bucks.

if you want to get the obstacle is the way as an e-book. I think it's only in the US but check the link here in the show notes or just go to Amazon or just go to Amazon or wherever you get your e-books also related news if you have more than two dollars. We have a leather bound edition of The Obstacle is the way which you can check out in the Daily Stoke store just go to store.dailystoke.com it's like a premium edition should last a little bit longer than the hardcover.

Exciting news. I was just told by my publisher that my book The Obstacle is the way the timeless art turning trials into triumph is 1.99 everywhere you get your e-books.

I'm not sure how long the price drop will last, but now is the cheapest the book will probably ever be.

It's less than two bucks. If you want to get the obstacle is the way as an e-book.

Also related news if you have more than $2. We have a leather bound edition of The Obstacle is the way which you can check out in the Daily Stoke store.

Obstacle is the way as an e-book. It's just 1.99 for a very limited time only.

my book The Obstacle is the way the timeless art turning trials into triumph is 199 everywhere you get your ebooks.

a book that sold well over a million copies in 40 languages it's been used by Super Bowl winning teams, Special Forces operators, members of Congress world leaders and it's less than 2 bucks.

if you have more than two dollars we have a leatherbound edition of The Obstacle is the way which you can check out in the Daily Stoke store just go to store.dailystoke.com it's like a premium edition should last a little bit longer than the hard cover go to dailystoke.com slash store and you can also get me to sign your leatherbound edition or any of your editions of the book and of course oh yes some other cool obstacle is the way merch check it out

I have a really old Italian marble statue of Marcus Aurelius that I bought when I was writing the obstacles away.

this is the key it was realizing especially with the first book it was like I wanted to write a book about stoic philosophy but I knew that the vast majority of people were not interested in stoic philosophy but most people have problems right obstacles are a universal fact of life and so the idea is oh okay let me present a part of stoic philosophy has a tool for dealing with obstacles or a solution to your problem

The obstacle is the way leather bound book, the daily Stoic leather bound book.

the impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way

the present situation is to be regarded as opportunity and not disastrous. As I only want to see cheerful faces at this conference table

life is dyed by the color of our thoughts

always think with your stick forward

objective judgment now at this very moment... unselfish action now at this very moment... willing acceptance now at this very moment

He says I'm a minority owner of Pittsburgh Steelers and you may have heard about this guy Ryan Shazier who took a real bad hit in 2017 against the the the the bangles and he's paralyzed and what Thomas said was that he had given Ryan a copy of the obstacles away because it looked like Ryan would never walk again and that Ryan had read the book there in the hospital and he wanted to connect us.

I thought this would be a good book to read the obstacle is the way.

Shazier has never heard of it but as he reads he finds that stosism reminds him of the life he led before the pain and depression of those months in the hospital if he is to live again and live well he has a choice to make like the books author before him be the man he is or the man he should be live by his doctors pitted prognosis or by a life of his own making to be a professional athlete is to believe that nothing is impossible to know that an obstacle in your path can give you the strength to remove it

I just had the strongest woman in the world on my podcast and I asked what her favorite book is and she said the obstacle is the way.

He's like you got a listen in this interview and you got to meet this person.

it was one of the most influential books that I've ever read because of that very reason it just explained it just explained and confirmed a lot of the things that I've been through why I've done certain things and why that is actually the only way to go is through

So as a way to skip that, that was one of the reasons I have been talking to Ali and I feel like our relationship has been reciprocal and I wanted to bring you a conversation with me and Ali.

And it's why we talk about it here so much.

And I realized that my 10 year goal for the business is to be profitable while helping people and having fun and I don't care about putting any numbers on it.

the obstacle is the way there's no problem so bad that there's not something you can't do because of it you can't grow because of it that you can't learn because of it that it doesn't open some opportunity that otherwise wouldn't have been there

Ryan holiday, the obstacle is the way.

It was actually through my speaking agency that I got connected with today's guest many years ago, because she had actually read the obstacles the way.

You can check out her book Unfollow. And maybe you should follow her on social media as well.

So my book The Obscule is the way it's a book about stoke philosophy but but sort of ironically it begins with a story from from Zen Buddhism but this sort of little you know little story about how a king puts a you know a pouch of gold under a boulder which he places in the middle of the road to town and he watches the different reactions that people have and some people curse the boulder.

If I'd sat down and I was writing the obstacles away, or you go to the enemy or still this is the key. And I was coming up with a philosophy from scratch. This would require genius to some level, right?

I just love that passage so much if I had the time I'd grab the Pierre Hadeau chapter on this very idea which also helped inspire the obstacles away.

He talks about sort of the art of turning obstacles upside down.

To me this is a central practice in Stoicism, it's why I've got a tattooed on my arm, it's why I wrote a book about it, it's why we talk about it so much, it's the idea of a Morphati we accept and then we use what's happened to our advantage, that's the essence of Stoicism.

And by the way we do have the new Leatherbound edition of The Obstacle is the Way which comes with The Obstacle's Challenge Coin as well, really proud of this thing, you can check that out at DailyStoke.com slash Obstacle Leather.

That's what my first book at Soicism is about.

And the leather bound addition of the obstacle is the way is now on sale. It's a limited first edition run, so I hope you can check it out. Get your copy at DailyStoic.com slash obstacle leather.

I have a I have tattooed on my arm the obstacle is the way show me again the obstacle is the way it's the way and it's going to be your way your unique your one of a kind diamond

It's got a genuine leather cover, foil stamped logo comes in this cool box. So it makes a great gift. It's on this Munkin Cream paper, one of the best papers in the world. It's got end sheets and a ribbon if you want to mark your place.

The content in the book hasn't changed, but the packaging is new and improved. And I think perennial and quite wonderful. I'm really proud of this.

We have a premium leather bound edition of The Obstacle is the way in the daily Stoke store. I've been hard at work at this for a really long time. I love the book. I'm so proud of it.

Do I have it tattooed on my arm? This thing isn't in the way. This thing is the way. It's giving me something to work with.

The obstacle is the way use what you get for free.

the new Leatherbound edition of The Obstacle is the way a book that's introduced millions of readers to Stoic philosophy that's perfectly good as it was, was painstakingly created in this new form.

We found the best Bible manufacturer in the United States and worked with them to produce an edition of Obstacle with a gold foil stamped cover, gilded edge pages printed on premium grade paper at their factory in Belarus.

Each book comes in a box so it makes a great gift. Each book has the letter pressed letter for me and each one comes with our obstacle is the way challenge going.

It's a limited first edition run so I hope you can check it out. If you order it here really shortly, you should get it in time for Father's Day.

I think it'll make a great Father's Day gift.

If you like my books like The Obstacles Away or Ego is the Enemy or Stillness is the Key or I sort of tell moral stories.

If you'd like a signed copy of The Obstacle's Way,

Yeah, so so a shake, talk noon, who's a friend of mine and we worked together on a number of initiatives in the Middle East and beyond. We he's an author himself. He's very intellectually curious and he said, hey, I just I just read this great book called The Obstacles the way and I'm going to bring it to you next time. And he did. He brought it to me next time. And and you know, he had it marked for me on the pages that he thought were most relevant to the to the to the problem sets that we're working on. And and so that's how I became familiar with your work. And and I really enjoyed it.

I don't know if it's ego is the enemy or obstacles away you cover Ulysses Grant and use a couple of vignettes about you know him getting a photograph taken I remember and like you know the glass crashing around him I thought about this because you're talking about stillness but then all these other examples in his life where he was you know he he was sort of I think you know a little bit fatalist you know and and and and was sort of unflappable in very very you know what others would regard as as harrowing desperate situations

When I tackle a book, I don't go, oh, I have to write this huge book. It's going to be 80,000 words. I'm going to have to go through multiple rounds of edits.

The obstacle is the way is 32, 33 chapters, but I broke that down into three parts and then 10 chapters in each part. And then, you know, the beginning of the chapter and the end of each chapter. And I just try to tackle each one each day.

There's a great rule in writing just two crappy pages a day. You do two crappy pages a day. If I show up and write every day, published pages come out of the backside.

So my job is to just get to work every single day.

My last book, Lives of the Stokes, when it came out, I was just in the middle of winding down the next book and then I'm in the middle of the next one now.

maybe I won't ever write a book as good as Ego or obstacle, maybe they won't sell as many copies like, but that's not going to prevent me from continuing to write.

in obstacles the way that Sam talking about John De Rockfield and John De Rockfielder is not Stoic

So when my publisher said, hey, do you want to do an update on the obstacles away? It's coming up on 10 years.

What I did was I added a new forward. I told the 10 years that we're just talking about. I walked you through what I've learned, how I think differently about the ideas in the obstacles away, what those ideas mean to me, what my understanding of stoicism is.

I've been working on that addition and I just re-recorded the audiobook.

My favorite part of the new book is this forward that I wrote where I'm thinking about what the book means, explaining what I've done in the book.

Here we are a decade later and the obstacle is the way it's been published in 40 languages and sold over 2 million copies in English alone.

I try to remind myself that that's when the stoics say the obstacle is the way they're not talking so much about pandemics or car crashes or injuries or bankruptcies they're mostly talking about day-to-day interactions with annoying obnoxious frustrating evil stupid people.

I recently read de era the seneca book... and i have helped popularize this one for marx realist about how the obstacle is the way.

I was writing the next book i was writing ironically what would become ego is the enemy but so i didn't take the lack of success that personally because i was busy doing the thing.

I remember that time very vividly because I just started to work on a book idea that would become The Obstacle Is The Way.

It's been this surreal experience of the audio book I was recording was the new audio book for The Obstacle Is The Way, the 10th anniversary edition.

When I wrote the book 10 years ago, I was focused on the obstacles I could see and had experienced.

But if you've been following the podcast for a while, you haven't read The Obstacles Away, well, this might be a good place to start.

If Snyder wants to know more about Belichick, wants to get the vibe for what he's like and what his philosophy is and how he approaches life in football, Lombardi says, if he wants to more fully understand the difference between winning and losing on the one-yard line in the Super Bowl, he needs to read it. What's that book called? The Obstacle is the Way, Lombardi says.

You wrote in, The Obstacle is the Way. And I think we quoted this in our book, there is no good or bad without us. There is only perception. There is the event itself and the story we tell ourselves about what it means.

If you can't fix it, you got to stand it. Isn't that Brokeback Mountain?